By Donald Wittkowski
Ocean City’s old firehouse on 29th Street survived raging flood waters from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and countless other storms in the past 60 years, but it finally succumbed to the blows from a demolition crew on Friday.
Most of the cinder block building was reduced to rubble in only 30 minutes. A big excavator began clearing the site to make room for construction of a new fire station scheduled to open by Memorial Day 2017.
The city’s engineer and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration condemned the 62-year-old building last April after large cracks were discovered in the walls.
However, the walls were strengthened to allow the firehouse to continue operating through the busy summer tourism season to avoid any interruptions to emergency service.
Firefighters assigned to the 29th Street facility were shifted to a temporary headquarters at the municipal airport in advance of the building’s demolition. They will stay at the airport site until the new firehouse is completed, city spokesman Doug Bergen said.
Already antiquated, the old firehouse was battered by Hurricane Sandy’s flood waters in October 2012. The flooding ruined the living quarters for the firefighters who worked there, but the rest of the building remained in use for nearly four more years. It was swamped again last January by flooding from the powerful coastal storm Jonas.
Although the old building was finally torn down Friday, its fate was sealed when City Council awarded a $2.1 million construction contract in August for a new firehouse. There had been discussions about possibly incorporating the old building within the new project, but city officials decided instead to demolish the structure to save money.
Bergen said the new two-story firehouse at the corner of 29th Street and West Avenue will be a centerpiece of the city’s emergency services.
“Public safety will always be a top priority in Ocean City, and the new station will be vital in maintaining the exceptional response times our residents and guests have come to know and expect,” he said.
Straga Brothers Inc., a construction company based in Glassboro will build the new firehouse. The facility will include living quarters for the firefighters and space for their equipment and the fire trucks.
The firehouse will be built on about 100 piles, giving it protection from future flooding, Straga Brothers President Barry Straga said. It has been designed to withstand the Jersey Shore’s notorious storms, including the 500-year flood.
